When I first started seeing the different versions of Betty Crocker’s Caramel Apple Cake I knew I wanted to come up with a gluten free version. I was pretty sure I could come up with a version that did not use a cake mix like the gluten free version that is on the Betty Crocker site.
I based this recipe on the regular version of the Caramel Apple Cake that I made for my husband’s office and it turned out so good. I ate way too many pieces of this gluten free cake. My husband had pieces of both versions and said they were equally as good.
This gluten free cake is definitely one that I will be making each fall.
Yield: 12 pieces
Gluten Free Caramel Apple Cake
Caramel and apples combined in this easy to make gluten free apple cake.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Ingredients
Topping
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
Cake
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons white rice flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Grease an 9x13 cake or pyrex pan and set aside.
For Topping:
- In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling; remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Pour into pan and spread evenly.
- Arrange apple wedges over the topping mixture.
- Set pan aside.
For Cake:
- In a bowl mix together rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder, xanthan gum,1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the salt and set aside.
- In another bowl beat together sugar and 1 cup butter on medium speed, until fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time.
- Gradually add flour mixture.
- Then add milk and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Spread batter over apple wedges in brown sugar mixture.
- Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes or until done.
- You can flip this cake out onto a platter to serve, but we just flipped each piece over as we served them.
Can the xantham gum be left out or something more common substituted for it? I hate to buy it just for one recipe. I’m hoping to make this for my father in law who can’t have gluten when they visit next week. Thanks.
You really need the xanthan gum. It is what gives the gluten free flours the right texture and rise that they lack because they have no gluten. You basically need it to replace the gluten you are leaving out. It is expensive and is probably not worth buying for one dessert, however you could easily buy a gf cake mix, make it according to the direction and use that as the cake batter. I think that would be a good option for you since you just need it as a one time thing.
You might want to use guar gum if it is available in your area. It costs about half as much and is the most common substitution for xantham gum that I know of, although it doesn’t work exactly the same way, so your results might vary. I have both in my pantry. Anyway, the recipe look good and I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks for the quick responses!
Good Job on the conversion to Gluten Free. Seems like BC put out a hit with this recipe.
The recipe looks really good, and I like the idea that it doens’t require too many different flours. Espeically since you can make the rice flour in the Vitamix yourself from white rice.. thanks for the recipe..
Lynn-
This looks outrageous! I have to prepare food without casein as well (ie: no butter). Do you think this recipe would work swapping out the butter for margarine or I like to use Earth Balance buttery sticks (no milk in this product)?
Thanks for the great recipes.
Marilyn
I am not sure how the caramel part would do without butter, it might not quite be the same, but it is probably worth trying. I am guessing you could adapt the milk like you are used to doing in other recipes.
Thank you SO much for this! I altered it just a bit to use pears from my garden, but it turned out AMAZING!